SU Player Quotes vs. Villanova
SU Player Quotes
Syracuse vs. Villanova
January 13, 2007
Carrier Dome-Syracuse, N.Y.
Senior forward Demetris Nichols
On having a big game:
“It was due. Coach told me I needed to have a big game, so I really focused and all my teammates helped me. But once I got into my grove I just kept on going.”
On the three seniors playing well:
“We played great. Terrence (Roberts) played great. He played aggressive, he rebounded great. Darryl (Watkins) was in there with 11 points and a couple big blocks. Just like you said, we are the leaders and we need to play every night.”
On playing man-to-man defense:
“We always work on it at practice, so we can play it. I think it caught them off guard a little bit because they are so used to us playing zone, but we played great man.”
On executing and playing as a team:
“We have been playing well together for the past two games, so I feel like we are coming along as a team and as we continue to help each other out and continue to get better, the sky is the limit for this team.”
Senior forward Terrence Roberts
On Cincinnati:
“They are a tough scrappy team. It’s the BIG EAST, you can’t sleep on anyone no matter what their record is. We know it is going to be a battle, but we know we want to be the better team and continue to get better and play as a team, so we are ready to protect home court.”
On the ups and downs of the season:
“We’ve had a rough start to the beginning of the season, and we didn’t have one game where we all played our best, but I think this was our best game collectively as a team. Everybody was involved and made the right plays on defense and offense. When we play like this it is going to be really tough to beat us.”
On the Demetris, Darryl and him playing well:
“When you have (Darryl Watkins) playing great defense and boxing out, that was why I was able to grab all those rebounds, and you have a senior leader like Demetris hitting all those tough shots and being our floor leader right now. When you have that, and Matt Gorman coming back, it is going to be tough to beat us if we continue to play like we have been. We’re a growing team. I can’t tell you what we have done wrong in the past all I can do is tell you what we did today and how we can build on it, and if we build on this game we are going to be a pretty good team down the stretch.”
On making five-of-five free throws
“I’m sure lots of people lost money on me today, but I just got to the line and was comfortable out there. I am shooting them a lot more relaxed right now and I’m not thinking about anything but making them.”
On Syracuse’s man-to-man defense:
“Coach said our zone was horrible. We gave up ten rebounds to (forward Curtis) Sumpter in the first half. We did a lot better job of zone in the second half, but we did a great job of finding their shooters like (guard Mike) Nardi and (guard Scottie) Reynolds and forcing them into tough shots. Mookie did a great job of getting blocked shots. We toughed it out the whole game. We didn’t slack or slow down the whole game. That was one of my main concerns that we were going to come out in the second half and be flat, but we didn’t, we kept battling all the way to the end and that was key for us.”
Sophomore guard Eric Devendorf
On the team and the role of the guards today:
“Everyone played great today. Terrence and Mookie did a great job of finishing open buckets, and Andy (Rautins) hit some great open shots. Josh (Wright) and I; all we had to do was find open players. I think we did a good job of breaking the press and finding open players, and they made the open shots.:
On the quality of the win:
“When we can get a win like this against a quality team like Villanova, it says nothing but good things for our team. I think we took a step forward today and we look to continue it against Cincinnati and St. Johns.”
On Terrence Roberts’ performance”
“Like I said, he had a great game. He finished the tough ones underneath, and he made his free throws. He was five-for-five today. He has been working really hard after practice on those and obviously it has been paying off, so when he hits those he’s a tough player to play against.”
On Villanova’s pressure defense:
“When they have that type of pressure, it just opens up a lot of the wing. Tonight I think Josh and I did a good job of breaking the press and finding open shooters.”
